On a recent visit to London I had the opportunity to visit the Mapping the City exhibition at Somerset House. I'd never visited Somerset House before and would thoroughly recommend you stand on the terrace overlooking the Thames before walking through the amazing courtyard up to the Strand. It even has an ice rink in the winter which must be an uber cool setting for a skate. Anyway, I digress.
The exhibition was a 'contemporary cartographic art by international street and graffiti artists' so I knew it would be an eclectic mixture. And indeed it was. Added to this brochure contained the sort of write ups which my scientific brain finds hard to translate. Such as "he uses a childish and innocent medium...to disparage the urge to impose our beliefs on one another, the urge to vanquish rather than to syncretise".
Some of the exhibits looked map like.
And this is Barcelona - somewhat stylised. I wish I knew Barcelona better as it'd be fun to relate a more traditional map against this one. I've spotted the citadel though.
This globe was created by an Argentinian from memory. He started to lose his memory in the 2000s and was advised to undertake some memory exercises. It's a globe showing all the places he can remember in the world (an awful lot better than many of us would be able to do).
But it does help explain why New Zealand isn't quite where it should be. And there were 3 wee pirate ships in the Indian Ocean.
I liked this French picture made up of street signs (spot the Carrefour logo in the centre?).
The most unusual exhibit was this French one. I initially thought it was animal skins but it's actually latex moulds of a Parisian Metro sign. Quite visually effective but not terribly practical.
And just as I was leaving I popped into their wine bar as I'd spotted this beauty. The waiter showed little surprise that I wasn't after a drink as I had my eyes on this wonderful map: Edward Moggs' Strangers Guide from 1817.
Now that's a wine bar worth returning to. ;-)
The exhibition was a 'contemporary cartographic art by international street and graffiti artists' so I knew it would be an eclectic mixture. And indeed it was. Added to this brochure contained the sort of write ups which my scientific brain finds hard to translate. Such as "he uses a childish and innocent medium...to disparage the urge to impose our beliefs on one another, the urge to vanquish rather than to syncretise".
Some of the exhibits looked map like.
And this is Barcelona - somewhat stylised. I wish I knew Barcelona better as it'd be fun to relate a more traditional map against this one. I've spotted the citadel though.
This globe was created by an Argentinian from memory. He started to lose his memory in the 2000s and was advised to undertake some memory exercises. It's a globe showing all the places he can remember in the world (an awful lot better than many of us would be able to do).
But it does help explain why New Zealand isn't quite where it should be. And there were 3 wee pirate ships in the Indian Ocean.
I liked this French picture made up of street signs (spot the Carrefour logo in the centre?).
The most unusual exhibit was this French one. I initially thought it was animal skins but it's actually latex moulds of a Parisian Metro sign. Quite visually effective but not terribly practical.
And just as I was leaving I popped into their wine bar as I'd spotted this beauty. The waiter showed little surprise that I wasn't after a drink as I had my eyes on this wonderful map: Edward Moggs' Strangers Guide from 1817.
Now that's a wine bar worth returning to. ;-)
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